Granola Bars / Cereal (the perfect substitute for all those boxed cereals)

This recipe is super yummy and so flexible! Below is our favorite cereal version, but there are many ways to tweak the recipe depending on your preferences. For the nuts you can put either all almonds or all cashews (or split them as listed below or even try a totally different type of nut). Also, the same thing works for the seeds – you can either put in all pumpkin seeds or all sesame seeds or put in half and half. You could easily play around with the amounts of sesame seeds and flaxseeds as well. If you can’t find unsweetened shredded coconut you can leave it out completely.

If you want granola cereal make it with rolled oats. If you want granola bars then substitute steel cut oats for the rolled oats, and I also like to add dried fruit bits before baking the bars. For the cereal, once it has baked and cooled completely, you want to put it in a gallon zip lock to break it up into small cereal pieces. If you are making granola bars just break off big chunks instead of using a bag. Don’t expect perfectly uniform rectangles for your granola bars – these are homemade after all!

Granola Bars / Cereal

4.82 from 127 votes

Course: Breakfast, Snacks & Appetizers

Dietary Restriction: Egg Free, Vegetarian

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes

Servings (Adjust to suit): 3 lbs

This is the perfect substitute for all those boxed cereals. Recipe adapted from Anson Mills

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Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups oats, rolled, (if you want bars use steel cut oats so it will stick together better)
• 1 cup almonds, raw, sliced
• 1 cup cashews, or walnuts or pecans
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds, raw
• 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds, raw
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon, ground
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ginger, ground
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, ground
• 6 tablespoons butter, unsalted
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Cover a rectangular baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Mix the dry oats, almonds, cashews, coconut, seeds and spices together in a large mixing bowl.
3. Heat the butter and honey together in a small saucepan over low heat. Once the butter melts stir in the vanilla and salt.
4. Pour the hot liquids over the dry ingredients and stir together with a rubber spatula until evenly coated.
5. Spread mixture onto prepared pan in one even layer. Bake for 75 minutes.
6. The granola will become crisp as it cools at which point you can break into pieces (if making bars) or break it up into small chunks by pounding it in a zip lock bag (if making cereal). Store in air tight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

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Recipe Notes

We recommend organic ingredients when feasible.

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